Flames in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have evacuated thousands. Smoke from the fire is expected to drift through the US all weekend.
“Large smoke from wildfires covers Canadian provinces
The time-lapse satellite image shows wildfires and thick smoke from two Canadian provinces on Monday, May 26th.
cus/cira & noaa
As many as 17,000 people in Canada have been evacuated as lively wildfires burn hundreds of thousands of acres across the country, officials threaten to waft heavy smoke in the northern United States.
The country’s Department of Natural Resources has seen heat, wind and dry air flare up in Canada, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. US residents are expected to face a decline in air quality due to the fire on May 30th.
“This is a very serious situation,” Saskatchewan Prime Minister Scott Mo said at a press conference on May 29.
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Truck Centre, the active flame burned 696,000 acres in Saskatchewan and 173,000 acres in Manitoba. A total of about 1.5 million acres have been burning in two states so far this year, according to the Fire Center.
Moe said he hopes the fire will worsen up to a two- or three-day rain event.
According to Firesmoke Canada, a team of forecasters at the University of British Columbia, it will fall heavily into Midwest states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, and is expected to arrive in Carolina nationwide by May 31st.
Canadian authorities have called on the military to support the “pure scale” of evacuation, Manitoba Prime Minister Wab Kinueu said at a press conference.
“We’re talking about time rather than days to travel this amount of people,” Kinow said, adding that it is the biggest evacuation “in most people’s living memories.”
Two states have declared a state of emergency. The flames also extend to Ontario, where 130,000 acres are burning.
Canadian wildfires again
Smoke floating over the United States from Canada’s flames comes after a 2023 Canadian nightmare wildfire encountered American cities in the northeast, midwest and plains.
More than 6,000 acres of flames have burned over 37 million acres, leaving areas larger than the UK, leaving them larger than the UK.
The 2025 “International Report” of the American Lung Association found that more Americans had poor air quality due to the Canadian fire, despite the decline in other pollution measures. The report was based on data up to 2023.
As of May 29, 1,500 flames had burned 1.8 million acres across Canada.
What to expect in the US
Frozen from the flames is expected to drift through much of the United States, starting in the Midwest, according to a Firesmoke Canada forecaster.
Minnesota began to feel the effects of the flames on May 29, according to the state’s Pollution Control Agency. The Upper Wisconsin and Upper Peninsula in Michigan were expected to suffer air quality by evening.
Smoke is expected to hit Ohio Valley and Carolina by early Saturday on May 30th.
Minnesota officials warned of unhealthy levels of exposure to microparticles from wildfires. Symptoms include everything from shortness of breath to heart attacks and strokes.
